March 09, 2012 (Barrie, ON) – Back in 2002 Mike Badham and I created a set of goals for Team Hardwood. Our dream goal at the time was to put a skier on the 2010 Olympic Team. We just missed reaching that goal but with the result by Len Valjas this week it looks like we might just have a Team Hardwood skier on the Olympic Team in 2014.

Picture the scene in my office on Wednesday, March 7, as Ed Johnson, Len Valjas’ Jackrabbit coach, along with myself and some of the other staff Hardwood Ski and Bike staff stood around watching Len race in Drammen on my computer. Everyone was holding their breath on every corner watching him ski away from the best skiers in the world.

During the race the Eurosport commentator drew a big cheer from the group when he mentioned that Lenny skied for Team Hardwood. As he came up to the finish line someone yelled “He’s going to finish second”. I couldn’t say anything because I was crying.

To watch someone you have coached and worked with for years finish 2nd in a World Cup race and stand on a podium with the best skiers in the world is the best feeling in the world for a coach.  It makes you think back to all the times in the past when you worked together – the good days and the bad days.

Lenny’s story, from my point of view, is a good one to tell to all young skiers who have dreams of being, like him, one of the best skiers in the world. It is also a great story for coaches who feel that a skier who hasn’t made it by the age of 18 or 19 will never make it.

Lenny did not always have the best results when he was a junior. In fact, one skier at the training centre in Mont Ste-Anne once said to him that he would have quit skiing if he had the same results as Lenny when he was a junior.

Part of the reason is that he lived in Toronto and, for the most part, he only skied on the weekends in the winter. Skiing only 2-3 days a week and competing against skiers who can ski seven days a week is a distinct disadvantage. Roller skiing is close, but it’s not skiing.

The other reason that Len was not amongst the best is a little more complicated. Len is one of those people who doesn’t really like to train alone and who does much better when he can train with others.  His teammates at Team Hardwood come from all over Southern Ontario and no one lived close to Lenny so for most of the year he had to train alone or with his Dad.

This meant that his training was not very consistent. As a result, it wasn’t until Len first moved to the training centre in Thunder Bay and ultimately to the training centre in Mont Ste-Anne that he really began training full time. This move was crucial to his present success along with the great coaching that he has received from Louis Bouchard in Quebec and being able to train with other great skiers like Alex Harvey.

I can remember pushing really hard in 2005 to get Lenny into the training centre in Thunder Bay. I knew that in order for him to reach his full potential that he would need to train in one of these groups and that if he stayed in Southern Ontario he would not get what he needed.

This is also why we have created the Southern Ontario Training Centre here at Hardwood to help skiers like Lenny make the transition from club skiing to full time skiing.

Ironically Lenny did not make the qualifying standard for a training center that year until the last race of the season. He had to travel to Maine to ski in the US XC Ski Championships. He made the standard in the 50km race. Not bad for a sprinter.

Lenny always had “it” when it came to racing. I cannot really tell you what “it” is, but he had it. Lenny was always a great racer – whether it was in xc skiing or mountain biking, he would always be able to get the most out of himself. He never seemed to be too nervous before racing and that still shows now that he is racing at the highest level.

One of the biggest pitfalls for elite athletes is when they start to believe that because they’re better than everyone else in their sport, this makes them a better person. It is very easy for them to become “prima donnas” and to feel that they are entitled to special treatment because they can ski faster than everyone else.

This has not happened to Lenny. He has great parents who understand sport and life and at Team Hardwood we have always tried to make sure that our skiers stay grounded and that they understand that xc skiing is a team sport. Our skiers know that they cannot get great results without a lot of help from many others and that without this help they would not be able to reach their goals.

I think that it also helped that Lenny did not have great results when he was a junior. He was never the best skier as a junior and, as a result, he was not put on a pedestal as a great skier. It is a testament to Lenny that his teammates think that he is one of the nicest guys and that they all want him to succeed.

It is also interesting to me that Lenny has become a great sprinter. He did not show these skills as a junior either. In fact, he wasn’t even the best sprinter in our club as a junior. In 2005 at the Canadian XC Ski Championships in Quebec City he was not chosen for the top team for our club in the Sprint relays. At the time he was the third best sprinter in the club behind Harry Seaton and Steven Hart. They finished 3rd in that race while Len and his partner did not make the finals.

So the message to young skiers is to continue to dream big. The results that you get as a junior do not necessarily mean that you will be good or bad as a senior. Almost all of the skiers who beat Lenny as a junior are way behind him now or are not skiing any longer.

Keep training and trying to improve. Find the right training situation, the right coach and the right training partners. Perseverance is one of the most important mental skills for xc skiers. Maybe someday you will raise your arms in success at the end of a World Cup race.

For coaches the message is to let your skiers dream and never, ever, ever set limits for your skiers. At the time I didn’t know if Lenny would become a top World Cup skier or not. It’s not up to coaches to kill our skier’s dreams – it’s up to us to help them to achieve them. You never know who is going to make it and who will not and one of the worst indications of talent is race results when skiers are young.

Most of the time, the top midgets and juveniles do not become the best senior skiers. Allow for late maturing athletes and simply help every skier to be better than they were yesterday. You never know who will make it to the top. Regardless, success is measured in many ways, and the life skills they learn along the way will help them succeed in life and learn to love the great sport of xc skiing.

Race report and more photos HERE.